Sam Bradford perfect; Bills QB battle rages on: 10 preseason takeaways
Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford looked unstoppable against the Packers on Saturday.
For most of the preseason, Eagles coach Chip Kelly has kept Sam Bradford in bubble wrap.
Bradford didn't play in Philadelphia's first preseason game against the Colts and he only threw five passes in the Eagles' second preseason game against the Ravens.
That left a lot of people wondering: Is Bradford going to work in Kelly's system?
If Saturday's game against the Packers is any indication, the answer is yes. A resounding yes. A "you might want to take Bradford in the first round of your fantasy draft and pick the Eagles to win the Super Bowl" yes.
Am I overreacting? Maybe. But probably not.
Not only was Bradford impressive against the Packers, he was perfect in Philly's win, going 10 of 10 for 121 yards and three touchdowns.
Bradford showed off a little bit of everything against Green Bay.
You want a touch pass to the sideline? Done.
Sam Bradford with another dime, this time it's to Jordan Matthews on the sideline for 27 yards. https://t.co/tKCXWfbJFo
— Anthony DiBona (@Anthony_DiBona) August 30, 2015
How about a touch pass to the end zone?
Sam Bradford should have a 99 throw accuracy in Madden https://t.co/7rTzZzGRPe
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) August 30, 2015
That's an 8-yard pass to Darren Sproles.
You want to see what Bradford can do under pressure? Done.
Under pressure? No problem for Sam Bradford, touchdown to Trey Burton! https://t.co/LdhSOMjeCc
— Anthony DiBona (@Anthony_DiBona) August 30, 2015
Bradford only played one quarter against the Packers, so his durability will still be a concern heading into Week 1, but if Bradford can make it through the entire season unscathed, we might see the best Eagles offense that Kelly has ever had, which should scare every team in the NFC.
Here's nine more takeaways from Saturday:
2. Do the Bills have a starting QB? The answer to this question is technically no because Rex Ryan hasn't named a starter yet, but after Saturday's 43-19 win over the Steelers, it's hard to imagine Ryan giving the job to anyone but Tyrod Taylor.
Unless he gives it to EJ Manuel.
Now that I'm thinking about it, the Bills quarterback situation might actually be murkier after Saturday's game than it was before.
EJ Manuel-Tyrod Taylor is turning into the Ali-Frazier of quarterback battles. #Bills pic.twitter.com/8CfnIykmMY
— John Breech (@johnbreech) August 29, 2015
Going into the game against the Steelers, Taylor was the co-frontrunner with Matt Cassel to win the job and out of those two, Taylor definitely looked like the better quarterback on Saturday.
Taylor entered the game with just over five minutes left in the second quarter and promptly led the Bills on an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Taylor went 6 of 7 for 70 yards on the drive and at one point, connected on six straight passes.
The Bills stuck with Taylor to start the second half and he was almost as impressive. The quarterback engineered two scoring drives, including one that ended with a 20-yard touchdown run by the Bills quarterback.
.@TyrodTaylor is playing like the @buffalobills' starting QB. Check the wheels on this 20-yard TD. #PITvsBUF http://t.co/DJpfoz3QnP
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2015
Overall, Taylor went 12 of 13 for 122 yards in the game.
In most quarterback competitions, a 12 of 13 performance by the frontrunner would put that person firmly in position to win the job, but that's not necessarily what happened with the Bills.
EJ Manuel, who was actually the starting quarterback against the Steelers, made an impressive last-ditch effort at the Bills starting job.
On both of Buffalo's first two offensive drives, Manuel led the team to the end zone in only three plays.
The first drive was a 3-play, 43-yarder that Manuel can probably thank Fred Jackson for: Jackson carried the ball two times for 42 yards.
1st play on offense for @buffalobills. 1st preseason carry for @Fred22Jackson. 41 yards. #PITvsBUF http://t.co/vQ1N7CMPqP
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2015
However, the second drive was all Manuel.
Starting from his own 20-yard line, Manuel led the Bills down the field in only three plays and ended the drive with an exclamation point: A 67-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay.
.@EJManuel3 isn't ready to bow out of the Bills QB race just yet. Not when he can throw 67-yard TDs. #PITvsBUF http://t.co/myNzbDDC1S
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2015
Manuel was pulled after two series, but then WENT BACK IN THE GAME in the third quarter. It was almost as if Manuel saw Taylor playing well and then decided he wanted to go back in to re-win the job.
During a short return, Manuel would lead the Bills on another touchdown drive.
Manuel finished 7 of 8 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, which might be good enough to make Ryan's decision a difficult one.
The third quarterback in this battle, Cassel, didn't look bad on Saturday. Cassel went 6 of 7 for 38 yards in what was a typical Cassel performance: He made the safe throws and did nothing to spark the Bills offense.
Ryan would like to know who his starter's going to be by Sunday and that starter is likely going to be Taylor, but it's not going to be an easy decision for the Bills coach.
"All three guys had a tremendous preseason and that's all you can ask," Ryan said after the game. "I think we'll address it at the appropriate time, but obviously I feel really good about all the quarterbacks."
3. Michael Vick makes splashy debut with Steelers. Pittsburgh's newest player only got three days of practice with the Steelers before being thrown into Saturday's game, but apparently, that's all he needed.
Vick's first play ever in a Steelers uniform was a 63-yard bomb to Martavis Bryant.
.@MikeVick's first throw as a @steelers QB? 63-yard completion. Because Michael Vick. #PITvsBUF http://t.co/qTyQAdpVNp
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2015
Vick didn't cool off after that, either.
The former Jets quarterback finished 4 of 5 for 106 yards in the game. It's almost as if Vick was rubbing it in Rex Ryan's face for comments Ryan made earlier this offseason. The Bills coach had said that Vick couldn't play in Buffalo because he has small hands.
4. Steelers are really going to miss Martavis Bryant. Steelers fans better keep their fingers crossed that Martavis Bryant wins the appeal of his four-game suspension because Bryant looked really, really good against the Bills.
Besides hauling in Vick's 63-yard throw, also caught a 39-yard touchdown in the game. Bryant, who won't be available until Week 5 if he loses his appeal, finished the game with three catches for 138 yards.
5. This Ryan Fitzpatrick thing might work out for the Jets. After Geno Smith got punched in the jaw on Aug. 11, Jets fans were hurting too because they realized Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to be their starting quarterback.

It turns out that Fitzpatrick as a starter might not be all that bad for New York. In one and a half quarters of action against the Giants, Fitzpatrick showed off his accuracy and solid decision-making skills in the Jets' 28-18 win.
Fitzpatrick was on the field for four offensive series and led the Jets to touchdowns on two of those. The Jets starter finished 9 of 14 for 127 yards and might have found a new friend in Eric Decker, who he hit three times for 52 yards, a total that includes the touchdown pass you see below.
Fitzpatrick to Decker. Making it look easy. #NYJvsNYG http://t.co/x4JC1KxSaw
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 29, 2015
6. Packers take a pounding. Less than one week after losing Jordy Nelson to a season-ending ACL tear, the Packers could be facing another injury on offense.
Viewing on cellphone, but RANDALL COBB @packers appears to injury R shoulder AC joint. Not IR, chance for Week 1. https://t.co/5JqG31Z3F3
— David J. Chao, MD (@ProFootballDoc) August 30, 2015
Randall Cobb injured his right shoulder on the third play of the game against the Eagles and immediately went to the locker room.
Randall Cobb has a shoulder injury. #PHIvsGB
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 30, 2015
Cobb is expected to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his injury. The wide receiver wasn't the only Packers player who was injured on Saturday. Offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga (ankle) and cornerback Micah Hyde were also injured. Bulaga's injury didn't appear to be serious, but the same can't be said for Hyde, who was carted off the field with a neck injury.
7. Jameis Winston comes back to earth. Jameis Winston learned an important rookie lesson on Saturday: It's not easy to come back on a short week in the NFL. Just five days after completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 90-yards against the Bengals, Winston appeared to regress against the Browns.
Winston only completed 6 of 15 passes, but you can't completely his poor performance on him because the rookie quarterback didn't get much protection. Winston was sacked four times by the Browns and struggled when he was pressured.
The rookie's only pick of the night came on a pass that he probably should have just thrown away after the Browns blitzed.
Jameis WINTston pic.twitter.com/ZoYhX7yv2i
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) August 29, 2015
It wasn't all bad news though, Winston did lead the Bucs on a 45-yard scoring drive that included a 26-yard throw to Vincent Jackson. Winston finished the game with 90 passing yards.
8. Andy Dalton and Philip Rivers were both dinged up. With two weeks to go until the regular season, the last thing you want to see if you're an NFL fan is your team's quarterback go down in the preseason.
Both Bengals and Chargers fans had to hold their breath on Saturday. Dalton was pulled out of the game in the first quarter after suffering a neck injury.
After the Bengals 21-10 win over the Bears, coach Marvin Lewis said that pulling Dalton was a "precautionary" move.
As for Rivers, the Chargers quarterback injured his right thumb after hitting it on Kevin Pierre-Louis' helmet during the second quarter of San Diego's 16-15 loss to Seattle.
Probably not what you want to see if you're the Chargers: Philip Rivers grabbing his finger after taking hit. pic.twitter.com/fbV555zSBD
— John Breech (@johnbreech) August 30, 2015
During the second half, Rivers told CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson that his thumb felt fine. The injury did end Rivers' night though.
9. Fight breaks out in Ravens-Redskins game. It turns out that one of the fastest ways to start a fight in the NFL is to piledrive tackle someone on the other team.
Now that's using your head. pic.twitter.com/21a71BW6ld
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) August 30, 2015
That's what Redskins linebacker Keenan Robinson did to Ravens wide receiver Kamar Aiken during the first quarter of Washington's 31-13 win and things got ugly after that.
How ugly?
Ravens coach John Harbaugh rushed the Redskins sideline to yell at Washington coach Jay Gruden and Steve Smith got into it with Redskins defensive back Chris Culliver.
Both Smith and Culliver were ejected, which ended up working out for Smith because he headed up to a suite at M&T Bank Stadium to watch the rest of the game with his son.
1st time I've ever gotten to watch a game with my dad. Thanks @NFL pic.twitter.com/8qyhHaKZJY
— P (@peytondsmith) August 30, 2015
You can read more about the fight here.
10. Best two-play sequence from Saturday. The most entertaining first half of Week 3 might have come in the Cowboys-Vikings game. With the first-stringers playing the game's first two quarters, the Vikings jumped out to a 17-14 halftime lead in 30 minutes of football that was fun to watch -- even though Adrian Peterson wasn't even playing.
The two-play sequence that highlighted the game came early in the first quarter. The fun started when Tony Romo hit Terrance Williams for a 60-yard touchdown.
On the ensuing kickoff, Vikings returner Cordarrelle Patterson caught the ball and took it 107-yards to the house. You can see both plays below.
Backen fawth in Dallas. Romo throws a long TD pass; Cordarrelle Patterson gets it right back: https://t.co/4ckR3F5rVt
— RN's Funhouse (@RNs_Funhouse) August 30, 2015















